Teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic brought about all kinds of challenges. My colleagues and I were relieved when we could go back to in-person learning, but it quickly became apparent that our students seemed to be missing a lot of important social-emotional skills. Unfortunately, the lack of socialization opportunities over the past years and trying to re-learn how to engage in school left them falling behind in this area.

As leaders, we can address issues by understanding key components of implementing change: learning from past initiatives, addressing initiative fatigue, and utilizing support plans. Check out the blog and video below to learn more! 

Coaching is essential for the success of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports. Coaching is not about giving directives or forcing others to invest, but is rather about recognizing strengths and challenges in MTSS implementation and helping staff grow in their professional practice, apply professional learning, and overcome challenges to meet personal and collective goals. 

To Coordinate: bring the different elements of (a complex activity or organization) into a relationship that will ensure efficiency or harmony. (Oxford Dictionary)

The educational landscape is changing rapidly, and student behavior is at or near the top of the list of concerns. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 84% of schools report a negative impact on student behavioral development due to the pandemic, and 87% report a negative impact on students’ socio-emotional development (NCES, 2022). 

Educators are painfully familiar with having their work and priorities shifted at the will of new legislation and policies. State board educations establish state standards, federal and state policies guide requirements, and local district leadership establishes procedures for what and how teachers are required to teach. It's up to principals and campus instructional leaders to be a bridge for the teachers to understand the purpose and rationale behind these policies and how they align with or influence your school goals.

Early in the 19th century, a British teacher named Joseph Lancaster created a school model that would have students of all ages sitting in ability groups by mastery of a subject matter. He named these groups the Bluebird, Robin, and Buzzard groups. (Although this part of the story isn't true, it sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)

Throughout all of the challenges of the past few years, my thoughts kept returning to the Chinese proverb, “Sāi Wēng lost his horse.” For those of you who haven’t heard it before:

Author: Emily-Rose Barry, Director of Product at Branching Minds

Looking Back

What a year it has been! In many ways, we started 2022 still shaking off the worn coat of COVID restrictions, re-claiming our educational spaces, and making sense of the past few years' experiences. Many words have already been expended lamenting all the ways we may have “fallen behind,” but to me, this year was an opportunity to experiment with new ways of thinking about the intersections of learning, technology, and student engagement. Human beings are nothing if not resilient, and the greatest sparks of creativity are born of necessity and confinement.

When you ask an educator how to make sure Tier 1 curriculum and instruction are meeting the needs of all learners, their first response may be that they need new curriculum and/or professional development on instructional strategies. But will this really fix the problem?